


Heart's Desire

by heartofawriter



Category: Mamma Mia! (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Drama, F/M, I'm probably going to make myself sad writing this in places, my precious family is in for a ride
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-16
Updated: 2018-10-16
Packaged: 2019-08-03 03:33:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16318337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heartofawriter/pseuds/heartofawriter
Summary: Two years after the news that Sam and Donna had decided to get a divorce, Sophie's birthday makes way for revelations that seemingly upset the balance of their family dynamic and strain the ties that have bound them all together.





	Heart's Desire

**Author's Note:**

> I'm horrendous at titling and summaries but I tried, so if you're reading this, thanks for giving it a chance.

Donna and Sam’s divorce had come as a surprise to everyone. They had all noticed the arguments and occasional fights over small things, but they were usually resolved within a few days at the most. But one day, just three years after getting married, they had announced their plans to divorce. They’d explained, mostly for Sophie’s benefit, that they just didn’t feel as in love or compatible anymore. Sam would still live on the island but would often travel back to Ireland to run his company from the source again and would also continue to help Donna with the hotel whenever she needed.

 

It had been an adjustment, but it had been two years and everyone had settled comfortably into the new dynamic. In fact, they were all in the process of arriving on the island for Sophie’s twenty fifth birthday. She and Sky had moved back a few months after the divorce announcement, the move seemingly being Sophie’s way of having something she could control in the midst of all the chaos.

 

The girl was currently waiting on the dock, anxiously watching the ferry being tied in order to allow the passengers to depart. As soon as she spotted her aunts, she shot forward, nearly knocking Tanya over as she collided with her in a hug so tight the woman could hardly breathe. But Tanya didn’t mind.

 

She and Sophie had grown so much closer after the divorce news. Being a child of divorce herself and having gone through several of her own divorces, Tanya was the only person Sophie felt she could really talk to about the divorce and her feelings about it and be truly understood. Sam and Donna felt too guilty every time she talked to either of them about it, and everyone else just spewed words of comfort. She appreciated the effort, but she didn’t want pretty words. She wanted to have an actual  _ conversation _ with someone who wouldn’t sugarcoat things and treat her as though she were a China doll two seconds away from breaking.

 

It had turned out that Tanya was apparently the only one who fit those qualifications.

 

She had been in a similar state of mind when her own parents divorced, and she could sense that Sophie felt the same. The girl had started going to her aunt anytime she needed to talk about the divorce, gradually beginning to go to her with other things as well. By the time a year had passed, she was taking nearly all of her problems to her aunt, to the point that Tanya suspected Donna, Rosie, and Sky were likely jealous and confused that Sophie didn’t seek their help as often anymore.

 

But she’d never been able to deny her niece anything, so instead of pretending she couldn’t help or simply not picking up the phone in order to force the girl to go to one of the others, she always tried her best to help and usually succeeded at it too. She and Sophie were closer than ever, and Tanya couldn’t say she was unhappy about it.

 

“You changed your hair!” the girl in question exclaimed in delight, pulling away a bit to admire her aunt’s now blonde locks.

 

“I did.” Tanya nodded, laughing softly at her niece’s enthusiasm. “Do you like it?”

 

“I  _ love _ it!”

 

“I give it two hours before all those young boys come after her.” Rosie declared, catching both of their attentions. “She’ll have her pick.” Tanya rolled her eyes while Sophie let her go to hug Rosie.

 

“I will not, nor do I  _ want _ to.”

 

“Well that’s a first.” Rosie teased as Sophie let her go. Tanya hissed playfully at her, and Sophie laughed, linking arms with both of them.

 

“I missed you both.” she giggled as they walked to Donna’s old jeep.

 

“Oh we missed you too, honey.” Tanya replied, climbing into the jeep. They talked the rest of the drive up, laughing and teasing one another as they went. When they finally pulled up to the bottom of the hotel steps, Tanya looked up and saw Sam waiting for them. He was laughing at something he must have heard Sophie say, and a soft smile spread across her lips against her will.

 

She’d been thinking about her best friend’s ex-husband far more than was appropriate, and as much as she tried, she couldn’t stop. Especially when his hands seemed to wander purposefully along her waist when he helped her out of the truck and when the kiss he pressed to her cheek while no one was looking seemed to linger for a beat longer than could really be considered friendly. They both acted normal, but her skin remained on fire where he’d touched her for the entire walk up the stairs.

 

She vaguely heard Sophie explaining to Rosie that Donna had gone to the mainland and wouldn’t be back until morning and that Bill and Harry were set to arrive sometime the next day as well, very resolutely pushing down the thought that if Sophie kept Rosie occupied, she could be alone with Sam.

 

“Tanya!” She narrowly dodged the stray twig Rosie had just tossed at her.

 

“ _ What _ ?” she scowled at her.

 

“Sam was asking how your flight was.” Sophie laughed at her aunts.

 

“Oh.” she blinked, her irritation dissolving. “It was alright. The man across the aisle was particularly keen on catching my attention, but I was too tired to flirt.”

 

“You? Too tired to flirt?” Sam raised an eyebrow teasingly, a smirk on his face that had her body temperature rising. She ignored it and  rolled her eyes, fighting back a smile.

 

“I had to go straight to the airport after a case that had been going on for three weeks.”

 

“Ah. You probably want to get settled then.” He lifted her bags over his shoulder as they approached the bedroom doors, and she wondered how she hadn’t noticed that he’d even had them or that a few young boys had joined them to help with all the luggage. She let out a soft hum as she stepped into her room lighting squeezing his arm in thanks.

 

It only took a few seconds for all of her bags to be placed down and for everyone to clear out, and Tanya immediately opened one of her suitcases, pulling out a flowy summer dress almost in a daze. Her thoughts were spinning as she walked into the bathroom and turned the shower on before undressing and stepping under the warm spray. She couldn’t say how much time passed with her just standing there, letting the water wash over her. Only when the spray began to cool down did she snap out of it and quickly finish up, stepping out to blow dry her hair, get dressed, and reapply her makeup. Afterwards, she checked her reflection, feeling far more refreshed, and walked out of the bathroom only to be pushed against the wall.

 

Her whole body tensed, and she was fully prepared to scream and fight her assailant for the few seconds before it registered that said assailant was Sam.

 

“You scared me, you ass!” He chuckled, finding the pout on her lips both incredibly endearing and incredibly sexy.

 

“My apologies, that was not my intention.” he replied. “Let me make it up to you?”

 

“Be my guest.” Her voice had dropped into a low, sultry tone that was almost a purr, and he nearly groaned as he captured her lips in a searing kiss.

 

Kissing her seemed to get better and better each time he did it, and he wondered how that was possible for a moment before she moaned and his desire for her took over. He lifted her up, and she immediately locked her legs around his waist, tilting her head into the kiss and pushing her tongue into his mouth. He did groan then, sliding an arm about her back, just above the curve of her ass, to help keep her up before roughly taking her up against the wall.

 

For a moment, Tanya spared a thought for how wrong it was. Donna was one of her best friends, and she’d loved Sam for so long. Not to mention that she’d married him or that there was Sophie to consider. Tanya knew she had no right to be doing what she was doing. What she’d  _ been _ doing for over a year now.

 

Six months after the announcement, Sam and Donna’s divorce had been finalized, and he had been drinking in the tavern on the mainland. He may not be completely  _ in love _ with Donna anymore, but a part of him would always love her, and so he thought a night of drinking to mourn the end of his marriage was appropriate. Of course, Tanya had shown up merely an hour after him, intent on getting drunk to take away the sting of her own recent breakup with a man she’d met in New York.

 

She’d settled next to him once she realized he was there, and in a matter of minutes, their drinks had sat forgotten on the bar. Hours had passed with the two of them just talking, sharing different stories about marriages and kids, or in Tanya’s case step-kids. By the time they left, neither of them were as drunk as they had intended, and before they could process what was happening, they were kissing. It had been a spur of the passion filled moment thing to fall into bed together, and the next morning they both swore it would never happen again.

 

And yet it did. Again and again and again until neither of them could even convince  _ themselves _ that it wouldn’t happen again, much less each other. The lust was just too strong. And  _ that _ they continued to establish, if only to themselves. This thing between them was lust and a need to be less lonely for awhile, nothing more, and no one could ever find out about it. Least of all Donna. They couldn’t afford to be reckless about it all, something they’d agreed on when it became clear neither of them had any intention of putting a stop to what they were doing. And yet, there they were, up against a wall in Donna’s hotel, Rosie and Sophie just a few doors down.

 

Tanya spared one last thought for how wrong it all was before she fell over the edge to her high and was lost in a world of bliss.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this first chapter. Let me know any questions, comments, or whatever. I know Sam/Tanya isn't a popular ship, but I love them, and this idea has been in my head for days, and I need to write it.


End file.
